The Black Course, a Gil Hanse design and the third course at the remote Florida resort, is on schedule. Almost every hole has been seeded and the plan is for a grand opening in the fall of 2017. Select participants and media can expect a comprehensive tour of the new course during the Streamsong Invitational (Jan. 19—22), which leads into the annual PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando. Hanse had access to almost the same amount of land that was used to build both the Red (Coore and Crenshaw) and Blue (Tom Doak) at Streamsong. Having walked it in various stages of development, I can only promise a wide variety and massive expanse to the corridors from beginning to the end.
There continues to be talk of the fourth course at Streamsong being an homage and almost exact replica of C.B. Macdonald’s Lido Course, but no further updates at this time. With the addition of Black, Streamsong will most likely prioritize a clubhouse, potentially more buddies-trip lodging and a short course.
Mossy Oak/Old Waverly
Mossy Oak
Congratulations to everyone involved in the building of Mossy Oak, a Gil Hanse design which is owned by George Bryan and Toxey Haas. The second course at Old Waverly and new home to Mississippi State’s golf program, Mossy Oak is a charming and rolling ride through the classic southern countryside, which opened Labor Day Weekend. Green fees are $132 for walkers, $150 includes a cart. The second course allows for extended stay-and-play packages, which will include Prairie Wildlife, the Augusta National of sporting clubs. If you love golf, guns, dogs and the great outdoors, make your way to Mossy Oak.
Forest Dunes
Forest Dunes
The Loop, Tom Doak’s reversible routing, has been open all summer for preview play. But owner, Lew Thompson, isn’t stopping there. In addition to building more eight-room cottages and fire pits, Thompson has enough land for another 18-hole course, a short course and a putting course. The putting course should be grassed before the end of the year. And with Rick Smith on site for a teaching academy, Phil Mickelson’s former instructor and architect of Three Tops, the popular par-3 course at neighboring Tree Tops Resort in Gaylord, MI, Smith seems like the obvious choice for the short course at Forest Dunes. “I want nine holes just like the bet-settling hole that we have at the end of the Weiskopf course,” said Thompson. “I have grandchildren that are 9 and 5 and they love to play golf, but they can’t really play the courses I have now. They’d have a blast on a short course.”
Names being considered for the additional 18 holes continue to be Doak, Smith, Mike DeVries and just recently, Thompson mentioned Coore and Crenshaw.
Arcadia Bluffs
Arcadia Bluffs
Forest Dunes isn’t the only Michigan property making significant moves. Arcadia Bluffs has purchased over 300 acres of what was mostly an old apple orchard. It’s two miles south of Arcadia Bluffs, inland and more flat than the land they used for the first course, which overlooks Lake Michigan. “We pieced together seven parcels of land,” said Bill Schriver, Chief Operating Officer. “We hope to start pushing dirt around this winter. It will be fun, fast and less expensive than what we already have. But like everything else here, it will be top shelf.”
Michigan natives, Tom Doak and Mike DeVries, are apparently not in the running for the job. Smith was part of the team who built the first course. Schriver isn’t ready to announce the architect, but sources close to the situation are saying Arcadia’s owner has a good relationship with Dana Fry, of Hurdzan and Fry, which, along with Ron Whitten of Golf Digest, built Erin Hills in Wisconsin.
With more golf comes the demand for more lodging. On October 1, Arcadia will be adding a second lodge. It will have four levels, 20 rooms and a workout facility. It will be dropped on what is the 10th tee and will have views across the course and out to the lake.
Sand Valley
All 18 holes of the Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw course opened for preview play September 1. (Green fee is $100.) They’ve opened three cottages (eight beds in each cottage), and the plan is to open a 12-bedroom cottage (24 beds) October 1. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are being served at what they call Craig’s Porch, a scenic spot overlooking the start of the Coore and Crenshaw course. “We’re also offering dinners cooked in the cottage, which is a cool concept for a buddies trip,” said Josh Lesnik, President of Kemper Sports, which also manages Sand Valley.
As for the David McLay Kidd design, six holes have been seeded and the hope is to have nine seeded by the end of the season.
The Official opening of the Coore and Crenshaw course is scheduled for June 12, and at that point, there should be six to nine holes on Kidd’s course open for preview play.
And the idea of a third course? A fourth course? A short course?
“We need to make sure the first two courses are a viable business. If that’s the case,” said Lesnik, “the sky’s the limit out there.”
Mighty Michigan is on the short list of top-notch summertime golf destinations. For decades its growing prominence was something of a secret, known mostly by state residents. But in the past twenty years the northern reaches of this upper Midwest state has reached the upper strata of public-access golf. Combine the quality of their myriad courses with the serenity and drive-ability of the highways and byways crisscrossing the landscape, the sunny days, cool evenings and friendly Michiganders who are so pleased to show off their state’s many natural assets, and it’s easy to see why tens of thousands of avid golfers make a pilgrimage to the region on a regular basis.
Shanty Creek – Cedar River
Shanty Creek is as good a place as any to start. This full-service resort facility resides in the town of Bellaire, just thirty-five miles from Traverse City. There are four courses on property, none more compelling than Cedar River, the most popular of the four. This Tom Weiskopf design features roomy fairways, plenty of elevation changes and deep stands of massive hardwoods on the periphery. Lots of mounding help contain errant drives, and players can run the ball up onto most greens as there aren’t many forced carries. If you can make it through the first half-dozen holes intact you can score well, but the course starts off with a bang. The namesake river itself comes into play midway through the back nine on a potentially drivable par-4, and the drop shot par-3 that follows. It’s the most memorable stretch of the course.
Shanty Creek – The Legend
Also be sure to check out The Legend, an Arnold Palmer design with wonderful views of Lake Bellaire. The Summit Golf Course is extremely family friendly, perfect for neophytes, with par-3 options on every hole, and fifteen-inch cups in addition to traditional cups on every green.
Treetops, in the town of Gaylord, is owned by well-known golf instructor Rick Smith. This is an 81-hole venue, well worthy of a weeklong, or certainly long weekend excursion.
Treetops
Masterpiece, located several miles from the other courses, is a Robert Trent Jones design that opened in 1987. It features dramatic elevation changes with far-reaching views for up to thirty miles. The Premier, created by Tom Fazio, is more user-friendly, with vast, bowl-shaped fairways to corral errant shots. Tradition, a Rick Smith design, is the newest addition to the resort. It is built on gently rolling land that is partially wooded and it boasts some of the best greens in Michigan. It has the classic look of a course that was built many years ago. Signature, also by Smith, features plenty of natural vegetation and a variety of hardwoods and pines to create a picturesque setting for some of the most demanding holes at Treetops. Finally, Threetops has been called the finest par-3 course in the world, and offers thrilling elevation changes throughout. Built for a Billy goat, the terrain changes on this 9-hole curiosity range from 70 to 190 feet, some with severely sloping greens. Threetops is an absolute “must-play” at Treetops, along with the additional 72 holes of full-scale, IE–driver friendly golf.
Forest Dunes
Forest Dunes, in the tiny burgh of Roscommon, is a far-from-common experience, undoubtedly worthy of an overnight visit. This is another Tom Weiskopf design, playing firm and fast, with thoughtful bunkering and a serene location. The front nine is more of a parkland setting, set through the woods. The back nine is more exposed, with numerous sand blowouts, and the conditioning on this housing-free facility is impeccable. Forest Dunes features a number of intriguing challenges including wide-open meadows, hardwoods, century old red and jack pines, rugged native dunes, scruffy sand areas and water features.
Forest Dunes has recently doubled the fun, opening an honest-to-goodness reversible golf course called The Loop. Designed by native Michigander Tom Doak, players begin on the first hole and conclude on the eighteenth one day, while the next they begin on eighteen, and play ‘backwards,’ to the first.
Forest Dunes
Forest Dunes is the epitome of destination golf, that fact becomes apparent on the miles-long, meandering drive off the county road that takes you to the facility. It’s a full five-or-more minutes of anticipation as you circuitously close in on the 4,500 acre property. The course is top notch, but so is the handsome and welcoming clubhouse, the bar/restaurant, and well-appointed lodge with fourteen rooms, sleeping 26 in total. Add in the half-dozen nearby cottages, and the total capacity for onsite accommodations is just below seventy. Once you park the car everything you need for a total golf (and as dusk falls, bocce ball) immersion is within fifty or a hundred yards.
Traverse City has many good dining options, including Red Ginger, specializing in sushi and Thai food in a modern, welcoming atmosphere. Slabtown Café and Burgers is more of a down-home option. This memorably-named eatery impresses with succulent burgers and an array of local soda pop flavors that will appeal to kids, and the kid that resides in all of us. Finally, The Filling Station has a unique ambience in an old train station. Wood-fired pizza and craft beer are the primary attractions at one of the area’s most popular establishments.
Every golfer has one thing in common: The love of a birdie putt.
It can be a tap in or a hundred feet of undulation and slippery slopes, but if it’s a birdie putt, it means you did something right to give yourself a chance at breaking par on that particular hole. Which is why I’m such a fan and advocate of short courses.
Before we get to the essence and value of a short course, a better understanding of what they are: A short course is never more than 6,000 yards, they usually have more than four par 3s, they rarely have 18 holes and they are almost always relatively affordable. You get around in closer to two hours than four hours, and even the most beginner of beginners, at some point in the round, usually has at least one putt for a birdie. There are exceptions to any one of those parameters, but I’ll now assume you’re clear as to what is the subject of this post.
I can’t help but think that if golf had a mulligan, more than 10 to 12 percent of the 5,000 or so courses built since 1990, would have been short courses. If only some of those housing developments—built around unforgiving courses thoughtlessly routed through a generic piece of land—were instead, built around short courses that had a broader park-like appeal to a community and not just a championship golf course serving an older male-centric and wealthy clientele.
Goat Hill Park
“Short courses are important for so many reasons,” says John Ashworth, who rallied the community of Oceanside, Calif., to save Goat Hill Park, which is 18 holes, a par 65, that tips out at 4,454 yards and it’s $32 on weekends. “A short course is playable for everyone and it takes less time to get around. It costs less to build, less to maintain, less to operate, and therefore, it costs less to play.”
To Ashworth’s point, if golf is to get out from under the labels of being too hard, takes too long and it’s too expensive, then of course short courses should be celebrated, cultivated and cared for.
“Short courses are a fabulous introduction to golf,” says Bill Coore, who, along with his partner, Ben Crenshaw, has one of the most popular design portfolios of the modern era of golf architecture. “Ben and I both played golf as kids on nine-hole short courses. By eliminating physical demands of length, they appeal to all levels and ages. They’re generational and cyclical. The same place you learned how to play can be the same place you teach your kids to play, or your grandkids to play.”
Josh Lesnik, President of Kemper Sports, which manages over 100 golf courses all across the country, grew up playing Vernon Hills, a nine-hole, par 34, 2,836-yard course in a suburb of Chicago. “I think we’ll see more short courses,” says Lesnik. “It’s not going to be a crazy trend, but they’re more relevant than ever. It’s time to get more creative with the game.”
Top Golf
An innovative idea, such as Top Golf, which has revolutionized a trip to the driving range for all ages, shapes, sizes and skill levels, has had immeasurable success at getting a club in people’s hands. And those people, based on witnessing four-hour waits for a stall, are all having fun.
But what’s next? If those Top Golfers then accept an invite, or are inspired to go play a championship routing, and get embarrassed or discouraged, then they’re inclined to go back to Top Golf, and abandon the idea of real golf. If those same people went out to a short course, and stood over a birdie putt or two, or ten, then they might actually try real golf again. And again.
Winter Park Country Club
“It’s very important to us that it’s playable, accessible and affordable to everyone in the community,” says Matthew Hegarty, a colleague at the Golf Channel, who, along with the city of Winter Park, Fla., is working to restore Winter Park Country Club, a nine-hole short course that—for over 100 years—has weaved its way through town and into the hearts of the locals. “We think of it as a city park. That’s our mission statement,” says Hegarty. “Hopefully it continues to be a place where young and old and everything in between can pick up a club and play the game in not such an intimidating environment.”
To the thought leaders of the game, The Mission seems clear. And, once again, I’ll use a skiing analogy to help explain: Golf needs to continue to bridge the gap between a bunny slope (a traditional driving range) and a double diamond (an 18-hole “championship” course). Whether that’s Top Golf, and/or some combination of short courses, it doesn’t matter. What matters is a greater appreciation and recognition that golf is hard. So what can we do to make sure anyone and everyone can get down the slopes and want to go right back to the top again?
Bandon Preserve
A guy like Mike Keiser, who built Bandon Dunes in Oregon, understands life at the top of the mountain. In 15 years, he pieced together one of the most popular and purest golf destinations in the world. He has four championship courses at Bandon Dunes, and three short courses. “As we’ve seen with Bandon Preserve, short courses are becoming increasingly popular with a premium on fun golf in a shorter time frame,” says Keiser. “Given the economics of land availability and price, water usage and environmental concerns, I believe short or alternative courses will only become more and more popular for future golf developments. We are even thinking about building a fourth short course at Bandon Dunes as we speak.”
Mind you, Keiser’s clientele is mostly male who are avid about the game and they walk the course. (There are no carts at Bandon Dunes.) And yet, Keiser is on the verge of a 1 to 1 ratio of championship golf to short courses.
Meanwhile, at a place like Reynold’s Plantation in Georgia, where they have a clientele of predominantly couples or families, their golf portfolio consists of six championship courses. And there was talk of a seventh championship course, which would be built by Pete Dye.
Tom Pashley, President of Pinehurst, which has ten courses (counting Thistle Dhu, the putting course), admits a true short course is a hole in the glove of what’s considered The Cradle of American Golf. “We don’t have that offering. A true short course,” says Pashley. “Courses 1 and 3 are shorter courses. And we sometimes play all of the holes on those courses as par 3s. And that’s always popular. Maybe that’s something we do more of in the future.”
And maybe. Just, maybe—this future that Pashley speaks of—is filled with more birdie putts. No one has ever complained about having too many birdie putts.
My Top 10 Public Short Courses in America
No. 10: Poxabogue, Sagaponack, NY. ($46) A reprieve from Hampton’s pretentiousness, I usually play “The Pox” in bare feet.
No. 9: Winter Park Country Club, Winter Park, FL. ($12) On the heels of their 100th anniversary, Keith Rhebb and Riley Johns, who recently worked with Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw at Cabot Cliffs in Nova Scotia, are renovating WPCC. (Cliffs debuted at No. 19 on Golf Digest’s ranking of the 100 Greatest Golf Courses in the World.)
No. 8: Peter Hay, Pebble Beach, CA. ($30) It’s directly across the street from Pebble Beach, the No. 1 public course in America, and kids 12 and under play Peter Hay for free.
No. 7: Northwood, Monte Rio, CA. ($28) It’s an Alister Mackenzie original. Mackenzie built Augusta National and Cypress Point. Nuff said.
No. 6: Spring Creek, Hershey, PA. ($14) Milton Hershey built what was originally called the Juvenile Course in 1932. It was a course specifically and to scale for kids. The only way an adult could play it was as a guest of a kid. Now it’s a parade of generations and the portrait of all that’s great about short courses.
Palm Beach Par 3
No. 5: Palm Beach Par 3, Palm Beach, FL. ($49) With memorable holes and a variety of shots, mostly along the coastline, it’s no wonder Golf Digest frequently ranks the Ray Floyd design as the best Par 3 course in the country.
Threetops
No. 4: Threetops, Gaylord, MI. ($38) Made famous by the million-dollar ace by Lee Trevino on ESPN’s “Shootout” in 2001, Threetops is the perfect complement to the four other championship courses on property.
Top of the Rock
No. 3: Top of the Rock, Branson, MO. ($135) As host of Bass Pro Shop’s Legends of Golf, built by Jack Nicklaus and with infinity vistas of the Ozark Mountains and Table Rock Lake, it’s no wonder Top of the Rock is the most expensive green fee in public short courses.
Goat Hill Park
No. 2: Goat Hill Park, Oceanside, CA. ($25) Goat Hill Park has been saved. Thanks to John Ashworth and the passionate and committed community of Oceanside, “The Goat” is benefitting from a $2.5 million renovation in which they removed turf and became more cost efficient and sustainable. Having reopened in February to rave reviews, Ashworth’s vision for The Goat is a lot more than just golf. As a park, Ashworth is planning on concerts, community functions, caddie programs and alternative forms of a very traditional game.
Bandon Preserve
No. 1: Bandon Preserve, Bandon, OR. ($100) “I don’t care how many holes you build,” said Mike Keiser, when commissioning Bill Coore to build Bandon Preserve, the 13-hole par 3 course at Bandon Dunes. “Use the land to build as many fun and interesting holes that you can find. Make them interesting enough that we could pick any one of them up and they would be worthy of being dropped into any one of the other courses on property.”
In terms of the quality of golf, resorts, countries and cultures, 2015 is at the top of the ten years I’ve been a “travel insider.”
With two trips to South Korea, three to Ireland, Canada, Hawaii, multiple trips to the Midwest and the Pacific Northwest, 2015 was also my most traveled year. I logged over 200,000 miles of an ongoing magic carpet ride as I chase the sun at some of the best golf getaways in the world.
Pebble ($495), Pasatiempo, Portrush, Bandon, Cabot, Cypress, Sea Island, Straits, Ardglass, The Goat, Royal County Down, Waterville and Winter Park Country Club ($8 for residents), just to name of few.
And don’t think I don’t appreciate my incredibly fortunate position of being asked to review golf for a living. I say it a lot, because it’s true, but I never take it for granted. And, as it relates to helping you make the best decision for you and your group, as to where to stay and play, I take it seriously.
For the purpose of reflecting on five of my 2015 highlights, I’m excluding the two personal buddies trips—the Uncle Tony Invitational at Bandon Dunes in Oregon and the Father/Son at Waterville in Ireland. But I am considering the trip I took to Northern Ireland, where I was invited to play in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Pro-Am at Royal County Down.
“Let me think about that for a second,” I said. And I waited one second. “I am IN!”
1. IRISH OPEN PRO-AM
My best friend and caddie for the week, Todd Curran, as we walked down Royal County Down’s ninth fairway. The Mountains of Mourne as a dramatic backdrop to one of the best courses in the world.
My best friend, Todd Curran, would caddie for me. And we’d plan more golf on the front and back end of the tournament. We stayed at the Culloden Estate and Spa, Slieve Donard Resort and Spa, and Ardtara, some of Ireland’s elite lodging options.
We played Holywood, home of Rory McIlroy, who treated us to a tee time and trolleys. Royal Portrush, host of the 2019 Open Championship. Portstewart, which has one of the most underrated front nines in the UK. We played Ardglass, a hidden gem and a must play on any Northern Ireland golf itinerary.
Pictures, tributes and replicas of Rory McIlroy’s major trophies are at Holywood, a small course and country club where McIlroy grew up playing golf.
Off the course, we caught the tail end of a Van Morrison concert. (That part where he walks off the stage because he’s distracted and disrespected by crowd activity.)
As for the pro-am, in which I was paired with Rickie Fowler, who had just won The Players Championship, it was my most memorable round of my year. (I didn’t say “best,” I said “most memorable.”)
There was quite a crowd gathered around the first tee. Over 3,000 crazed Irish golf fans, and only about half of them were there to see Fowler. Most of them were fans of my other two playing partners, who are apparently very famous.
A.P. McCoy, I’ve since learned, is the Secretariat of jockeys in the UK. At 4,357 career wins, he has almost twice the number of wins than the guy who is second best. McCoy might’ve been more popular than Fowler.
Patrick Kielty, A.P. McCoy and Rickie Fowler helped entertain an adoring crowd. Nothing could keep them safe of my errant shots.
The other amateur in the group was Patrick Kielty, a successful comedian who was born and raised in County Down. A hometown hero, of sorts.
And then there was me, who was incredibly overwhelmed and humbled by the situation. I shook. I had the sweats. Shortness of breath. And I sucked. At least until the eighth or ninth hole, when I finally started to feel my feet. I was so afraid of killing someone. There were so many people. And they were so close. And they were all in danger. Regardless, my buddy and I had a blast. All week. But don’t expect us to remember all of the details.
What I do remember is Fowler and his caddie, Joe Skovron, were gracious and engaging. The crowd was warm and supportive. The same could be said of Ireland in general. It might not be the “Home of Golf,” but a golf trip to Northern Ireland rivals any trip to St. Andrews.
2. CRENSHAW’S LAST MASTERS
Sitting down with Ben Crenshaw the week before his 44th and final Masters.
One of the most cherished benefits of doing what I do has been getting to spend time with Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, who are not only successful partners in architecture, but they are two of the game’s finest gentlemen. And going into Crenshaw’s last Masters, I found out two things: That I’d be interviewing Crenshaw the week before Augusta National, and that I had an invite to his party after his final competitive round.
At Big Cedar Lodge in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, Crenshaw shared his emotions and state of mind as he approached his 44th Masters week. “Quite simply, I can’t play the course,” said Crenshaw. “It’s the right time. It’s part of life. I will be an encourager of the younger players from now on.”
I’ve covered eleven Masters, but this was my first time going to Augusta as a fan. My friends and I were in the massive gallery encouraging Crenshaw on Friday afternoon.
Attending a Masters with friends and as a fan.
Having met up with him on the 11th tee, Crenshaw saw me standing outside the ropes. He nodded, and then walked over to where I was standing. He shook hands with my friends, and then, when it was his turn to tee off, he offered me his driver. “Here,” he gestured. “You hit this. I can’t reach the fairway anymore.” The crowd laughed with him. And then Crenshaw obviously hit the shot. A high draw, slinging its way down the hill and coming to rest on the left side of the fairway. Short, but serviceable. Such a proud man and champion, and yet so decent and humble. I remember watching Crenshaw navigate the drastic decent down the 11th tee and into Amen Corner for one last time. The legend and legacy he leaves behind at Augusta National will last forever.
“I’ll be seeing a lot more of Bill Coore, my partner in architecture,” Crenshaw said to small gathering of friends and family.
Later that night, Crenshaw gathered a small crowd into the living room of a rented house in Augusta. He stood in the middle, rotating and making eye contact with people as he talked and turned. “You can’t make it in this life without friends,” said Crenshaw. “Bobby Jones once said that friends are among life’s most cherished possessions. And he was right. We are rich with friends. I want to thank you all for your support. As for today, I don’t know how to describe it, other than I’m happy it’s over. And I’ll be seeing a lot more of this guy, my partner in architecture, Bill Coore.”
“I will love you forever,” Crenshaw said to his longtime caddie and loyal friend.
And then he called Carl Jackson to the center of the room. Jackson is Crenshaw’s longtime caddie and soulmate, and as the loyal looper took his place next to Crenshaw, the two men locking arms, Jackson was back to being the tree Crenshaw has leaned on throughout the years. The relationship so much more than just club selection and putting breaks.
“I love you until the day I die,” said Crenshaw, looking up at Jackson. And then he turned back to the crowd. “When we’d try to read a putt, I would say, ‘Carl, it looks like one cup to the right.’ And if he agreed, he’d always say to me, ‘We’re together.’ Well,” said Crenshaw, “Carl, we’re together.”
Needless to say, to have spent that time with the Crenshaws, during that week was incredibly special. And so was playing on opening day of Cabot Cliffs with Crenshaw, in which he shot a smooth 73. Coore and Crenshaw’s addition to Cabot Links will officially open in Inverness, Nova Scotia next summer. I always felt it would be in the conversation of the top 10 courses in North America. Now that it’s done, it might be in consideration for top 10 in the world.
3. SOUTH KOREA
The Jack Nicklaus Golf Club might be manufactured from landfill, but it made for great theater the week of the Presidents Cup.
Having made two trips to South Korea in 2015, one for a travel story, and one for a story relating to the Olympics in 2016, I was afforded an incredible opportunity to experience the Korean culture and get to know more about why they’ve emerged as such a force in the future of golf. Even though, of the two million golfers in country, only 40 percent actually play golf on one of the 500 courses. The rest go to simulators or driving ranges. (Simulator golf tournaments are televised.) To the kids, golf is not a game—even at an early age—golf is a career opportunity. The kids are trained to be machines. They are expected to be masters of a chosen craft.
Anyway, what they’re doing is working. And it was fascinating to learn more about the who, how and why.
Cheerleaders are big in Korean baseball. And they cheer from on top of the dugouts.
Not to mention, having tea and later emailing with a real monk. I got a picture with the cheerleaders of one of the professional baseball teams. I got rototilled by some of the countries finest amateur table tennis players. Even the smallest and sweetest of my competitors heartlessly blasted ping pong balls off of my forehead. They nod and apologize, of course.
As for the Jack Nicklaus golf course at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club, which hosted the Presidents Cup, it was hard to believe you pay $1 million for a membership. The course is good, considering it’s all built on landfill, but far from great. That being said, it provided ample drama to a well-contested Cup. More proof that you don’t have to have a great course to have a compelling match play venue and event.
4. REVERSIBLE ROUTING
Tom Doak playing his reversible routing even when it was just dirt.
Having covered the history, design, development and redesigns of hundreds of courses all over the world, it’s now hard to come across something truly unique. And then I started covering Tom Doak’s design of a reversible course at Forest Dunes in Roscommon, Mich. “I like to say that I didn’t build two courses,” said Doak. “I built 18 greens that can be attacked from multiple directions.”
What Doak says is true, but those 18 greens will be consumed by the avid amateur as one course that is played one day in a clockwise order of 1 to 18. And the next day, golfers will go on a routing that is counterclockwise.
In an attempt to make Forest Dunes into more than one-course shopping, Thompson has added lodging and the reversible routing, which they are calling The Loop.
And the two routings will certainly be directly compared as though they are two different courses. Which they are. And to have been there through various stages of development, even playing a portion of the course with Doak when it was still just dirt, was priceless access and an education in advanced golf architecture.
Although the green complexes are small for such a layered concept, I do think Doak pulled it off. And I’m excited to see the feedback when the course opens for limited preview play in the summer of 2016. If successful, an efficient and sustainably smart concept like this has serious growth potential, especially as the world of golf continues to consider alternate ways of growing the game.
5. HERB KOHLER, PETE DYE AND DESTINATION KOHLER
Herb Kohler, Pete and Alice Dye have built one of the ultimate golf getaways in the world.
From Coore and Crenshaw at Cabot, to Doak at Forest Dunes, Robert Trent Jones Jr., at Chambers Bay, David McLay Kidd at Sand Valley, Tom Weiskopf at TPC Scottsdale, Tom Fazio at Waterville, Gil Hanse at Streamsong, Jim Wagner at Mossy Oak and Keith Rhebb at Winter Park Country Club, I learned a lot about architecture in 2015. But one of the more memorable moments was interviewing Herb Kohler and Pete Dye about the development of Blackwolf Run, Whistling Straits and how they brought multiple majors to one remote Midwestern destination.
Dye has built all four courses at Destination Kohler. And there are ongoing talks of a fifth course. “We better do it quick,” said Kohler. “While Pete is still alive.” Both men laughed. (Dye celebrated his 90th birthday on Dec. 29, 2015.)
Just one of the wild sunsets during the week of the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.
In doing that interview, as well as touring and sampling all of what the resort has to offer, I was reminded why it is one of the ultimate golf getaways in the world.
The Straits is my favorite of all Pete Dye public designs. Service is exceptional. The food options, culinary culture and other off-course amenities are tirelessly held to five-star standards. I also had the opportunity to sit down with David Kohler, who has recently taken over a bulk of the leadership responsibility on behalf of his father.
The younger Kohler has worked his way up to the top of the company, and it’s obvious he has an appreciation and respect for all that has been created within the family brand. David is sharp, articulate, thoughtful and demanding. Kohler Company is in good hands, which is more good news for the avid amateur.
From subsidized caddie academies and junior green fees, water conservation and redesigns, reversible routings and the ongoing growth of short courses, foot golf and Top Golf, I’m looking forward to shining the light on more of what’s right with golf in 2016.
Pick up a National Rental Car in scenic Traverse City, and revel in the magnificence of summertime in Northern Michigan. Enjoy infinite blue sky punctured by the occasional high cirrus cloud bank, endless fields of farmland, deep and dark stretches of emerald green hardwood, miles of glinting lakefront, the occasional farmhouse, roadhouse or craft store. From Traverse City to Frankfort, Big Rapids to Bellaire, Gaylord to Roscommon, all in pursuit of some of the finest summertime golf this nation has to offer.
Kingsley Club
Start at the Kingsley Club, in the town of the same name just outside of Traverse City. Assuming you have a PGA Professional who can make a call to provide some access to this private club that welcomes visitors, this is an indelible experience for those who like their courses wild, wooly, fescue-framed and unconventional. The near-vertical steepness of the par-5 opening fairway is reminiscent of Fenway Park’s “Green Monster,” the Boston stadium’s famed leftfield wall. The green’s opening on the par-3 second is little wider than a supermarket aisle, with steep fall-offs on either side into either vegetation or bunkers. The landform, particularly on the opening nine, is rather extreme in terms of angles and steepness, made up of ridges, valleys and bowls left behind by glacial deposits. It’s naturalistic and rough-hewn, with blowout bunkers framed by waving native grasses. The inward nine looks and plays a bit more conventionally, framed by hardwoods, with the elevation changes more subtle than severe. It’s a wonderful counterpoint to the heaving nature of the opening nine, and the two nines taken as a whole make for one of the region’s most compelling golf experiences.
Cedar River
Shanty Creek is a full-service resort facility in the town of Bellaire, with four courses on property, but none more compelling than Cedar River. Roomy fairways, plenty of elevation changes and deep stands of massive hardwoods on the periphery are hallmarks. Lots of mounding help contain errant drives, and players can run the ball up onto most greens as there aren’t many forced carries. If you can survive the first half dozen holes intact, the course loosens its grip, but things start off with a bang. The namesake river itself comes into play midway through the back nine, a potentially drivable par-4, and the drop shot par-3 that follows. It’s the most memorable stretch of the course.
Treetops Resort in Gaylord
Likely the most memorable par-3 golf course most players will ever set eyes upon is the cleverly named Threetops, at Treetops Resort in Gaylord. Built for a Billy goat, the terrain changes on this 9-hole curiosity range from 70 to 190 feet, some with severely sloping greens. Many golfers eschew par-3 courses, much preferring to whale away with driver wherever and whenever possible. But Threetops is an exception, and is an absolute “must-play” at Treetops, which boasts an additional 72 holes of full-scale, IE–driver friendly golf, in addition to the unique par-3 facility.
Forest Dunes in the tiny burgh of Roscommon, is a far-from-common experience, undoubtedly worthy of an overnight visit. The Tom Weiskopf design plays firm and fast, with thoughtful bunkering and a serene location. The front nine is more of a parkland setting, set through the woods. The back nine is more exposed, with numerous sand blowouts, and the conditioning on this housing-free facility is impeccable.
Forest Dunes
Forest Dunes is the epitome of destination golf, which becomes apparent on the miles-long, meandering drive off the county road that takes you to the facility. It’s a full five-or-more minutes of anticipation as you circuitously close in on the 4,500 acre property. The course is top notch, but so is the handsome and welcoming clubhouse, the bar/restaurant, and well-appointed lodge with 14 rooms, sleeping 26 in total. Add in the half-dozen nearby cottages, and the total capacity for onsite accommodations is just below seventy. Once you park the car everything you need for a total golf (and as dusk falls, bocce ball) immersion is within fifty or a hundred yards.
There is plenty of room for a second course on property and native Michigander and acclaimed architect Tom Doak has been tapped for the project. Once it opens Forest Dunes will be elevated from a Michigan “must-play” to a destination that discriminating golfers from around the nation and beyond will be queuing up to visit. It’s a picture book example of all the great golf experiences awaiting in marvelous northern Michigan.
